flip front helmets

**moilami** · 03-22-2011, 04:47 PM

Originally Posted by felix

Euphonious, interesting that you had spotty service at chemizhen; when i was there on saturday they were all lovely to me, particularly the young guy with light brown died hair who seemed to know what he was talking about (well i am a dashingly handsome fellow). I suspect your voice is not as euphonious as mine. I felt a bit bad because i spent an hour in there and i didn't buy the helmet off them, they didn't have the colour i wanted in my size. I did howevere buy a (very nice) pair of gloves from them for 350 kuai which did ease my guilt.

Ultimately i bought it from one of the shitty small shops in the jiaojilu bike city. I'm pretty sure it's a chinese made helmet because it's 'the high end model' that a lot of the smaller shops have amongst all the LS2 and Yohe lids. I do still prefer buying from a real shop rather than online if the price is comparable; it'll be a great loss if online shops one day eradicate local stores. Having said that, i'm with laojiahuo on the laowai price issue here. I rarely buy something without having checked the price on taobao first. When i was trying on the helmet i heard the wife say "给他八百多" at which point all of a sudden i could speak chinese and calmly explained that the going price was 616 kuai and that was what i intended to pay. They gave it to me for 615, even though i normally accept 10% over taobao price for the laowai tax.

Euphonious a white helmet is perfectly acceptable, i would even go as far as saying that it is preferable to hot pink. I wore a white helmet last year and i dare say i looked ravishing in it.

Lol. That reminds me of a dog who needs to do something he don't like.

**euphonius** · 03-23-2011, 05:04 AM

Felix, given that it's sunny and warm today, I'm going to head up to Chemichen again to see if you didn't by the last HJC IS-Max in XL!

Yes, you look lovely and sweet in white!

**euphonius** · 03-25-2011, 02:41 PM

OK, I picked up the HJC IS-Max BT in silver-gray, for 610 RMB at Chemichen. This time they were a lot friendlier, probably since the boss was present. Great helmet, great price.

By the way, Chemichen is a good source for leather and textile riding gear, some selection of decent boots, some very serious locks from OnGuard and other brands, lots of armored gloves, etc. Worth a trip for any Shanghai denizens.

cheers

**CantDecide** · 03-25-2011, 02:48 PM

That's a pretty good deal! The IS-MAX BT is $175-180 at motorcyclegear.com, which is where I pretty much get everything (where everything is about 3 articles so far).

Is there a place like Chemichen's in Beijing? I'd like to get a riding jacket.

**Jimbosidecar** · 03-25-2011, 02:57 PM

Yes, there is. I couldn't in a million years describe how to get there, but it's just outside the 4th rign road maybe a couple kms from FHL. Also I carry helmets and jackets out at Jimbos.
Regds,
Jim
www.bmwsidecar.com

Originally Posted by CantDecide

That's a pretty good deal! The IS-MAX BT is $175-180 at motorcyclegear.com, which is where I pretty much get everything (where everything is about 3 articles so far).

Is there a place like Chemichen's in Beijing? I'd like to get a riding jacket.

**CantDecide** · 03-25-2011, 04:43 PM

Yes, there is. I couldn't in a million years describe how to get there, but it's just outside the 4th rign road maybe a couple kms from FHL. Also I carry helmets and jackets out at Jimbos.

I'll be showing my newbie-ness by saying this, but I don't know what FHL is.

If I get that sidecar ride from Lao Jia Hou though, I'll come check out your shop.

**euphonius** · 03-26-2011, 01:18 AM

Josh,

I've been here 21 years and I don't know either. But, as ever, google knows!

**Lao Jia Hou** · 03-27-2011, 01:28 AM

Originally Posted by CantDecide

I'll be showing my newbie-ness by saying this, but I don't know what FHL is.

If I get that sidecar ride from Lao Jia Hou though, I'll come check out your shop.

We are all newbies when it comes to finding stuff in China, so we really need to rely on each other.

Here is a map of where FHL is, and also Mr Yu's shop. If it is not easily readable on here, send me a PM or email, and I`ll fire off the full version to you.

I'll post Jim's shop a bit later. I don't get my sidecar out of the shop until later today (Sunday), so we could do it during the week if you want.

Yu Shop.jpg

Now, a map is not good enough for either of these, as the shops are kinda tucked away:

1) Finding FHL

Start from the Harley dealer. Head east on the street, to the end at a T-junction (a few hundred meters).

At the T-junction, turn right.

After turning right, immediately turn left into a smaller side road.

Once on the smaller side road, and no more than perhaps 50 meters, you will turn right into a compound through a double-wide gate. It doesn't look like there is a big MC shop down there, but it is there, around 100 meters on your right.

FHL has lots of bikes and lots of clothes (good quality but a bit pricy). Good selection of helmets.

2) Finding Mr. Yu's clothing shop

Sorry, the map is in Chinese (I can't get the English google to work).

Anyways, you want Yaojiayuan Road, between the 4th and 5th ring road. It is a major 6 lane road.

Coming from Harley/FHL, you'll see that you head South. I think it will be the 4th traffic light and you turn left. It is the first traffic light intersecting a major road (Yaojiayuan). The other 2 or 3 are minor traffic lights.

After turning left, immediately get over to the right lane.

You will pass through a pedestrian controlled crosswalk light in about 200 meters. Immediately after that crosswalk, you will want to turn right into a shopping centre driveway.

Once turned into the driveway, you will be forced to veer left, parallel to the sidewalk, heading East.

You'll come to the outdoor parking lot of the shopping centre. Stay left, driving along the little buildings on your left.

Continue on, staying left, and Mr. Yu's shop is near the end, on the left. You'll probably see some MCs or scooters out front, and clothing in the windows.

Good selection of clothing, at great prices, and maybe a dozen different helmet models.

==========
From my experience, the very best selection of helmets is out in Pinggu, an hour's drive (by expressway) East of Beijing city. That tends to be where the MC wholesalers are for clothing, accessories and helmets. Prices are unbeatable, but it costs money to get there/back. I was out there last Fall, and one of the outlets had a clearance of helmets ... 1 rmb each, with any other purchase. You don't often see promos like that in China.

**CantDecide** · 03-31-2011, 08:25 AM

Gah! I should have done that myself and I'm a big fan of lmgtfy.com, but for some reason I figured google wouldn't give a useful hit on a TLA (Three Letter Acronym).

Thanks for the links!

Lao Jia Hou, did you get your sidecar out of the shop? How is it?

I'll try and head out to Mr Yu's sometime, I've been so swamped with work I don't know if I'll have time this trip, I might have to go when I get back in May.

Pinggu sounds like fun, I'll have to figure out how to get out there sometime.

**Lao Jia Hou** · 03-31-2011, 02:27 PM

Originally Posted by CantDecide

Lao Jia Hou, did you get your sidecar out of the shop? How is it?

Not yet, as I've been swamped with activity in these volatile capital markets (Nikkei, Oil, etc) - gotta earn the dough to buy my toys! Within a day, or so, I hope.

May is a great time - ideally the sand storms will be finished.